Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, (e.g., an LTE system).
By way of example, a wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UEs), mobile devices or stations (STAs). A base station may communicate with the communication devices on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a base station to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a base station).
Recently, the number and types of mobile devices used in cellular networks has grown exponentially. As demand for mobile devices grows, newer techniques, including new types of waveforms, are being proposed for transmitting signals and data over the wireless channel. However, implementing these different techniques in a hybrid network may be costly due to each system requiring hardware with unique or dedicated functionality for each technique (e.g., transmitter and receiver) to process and decode the various signals and data.